Roman Polanski - Biography

Roman
Polanski is one of the most controversial contemporary directors in Cinema
History. His name has become synonymous with events from his personal
life, which in fact have at times detracted and taken precedence from
his work as a filmmaker.

Roman has created films that unnerve and horrify the viewer such as "Rosemary's
baby" and "The Tenant", as well as the masterpiece "Chinatown" starring,
Jack Nicholson. He also directed the comedy vampire movie "Dance
of the Vampires (also known as The Fearless Vampire Killers) and the
period drama "Tess" based on the novel by Thomas Hardy starring,
Nastassja Kinski. Both of these films exude a haunting yet luminous beauty.

As a filmmaker he is exceptional in his ability to produce works with
a disturbing mood and atmosphere of suspense that is impossible to replicate.
His hallmark is to utilize seemingly everyday events and situations and
then expose the undercurrent of evil that lies beneath; he explores the
thin line between madness and sanity with compelling expertise and intuitive
mastery.

Roman
Polanski was born to Polish parents in Paris 1933. They moved to Krakow,
Poland, when Roman was still a toddler. Roman grew up in a constricted
communist environment; however, he had a highly creative intellect and
created his own exceptional world of fantasy. His imagination was the
key that helped him overcome the horror of War in Europe.

Whenever Roman had a chance to visit the theatre he had no uncertainties
that one day he would appear on centre stage or behind the camera as
a director, Roman was an incredibly confident child with grand aspirations.

Roman's father owned a plastics business in Krakow, although his parents
were not rich they provided Roman with everything he needed. He was a
child who in his own words "wanted everything his own way".
His childhood would soon be shattered as War began in Poland.

The changes to the Jewish community began slowly and unpleasantly when
Roman's parents were told to wear white armbands with the Star of David
stencilled on them in blue. Roman was told it was because they were Jewish,
although his parents did not practice their religion and his mother was
only partly Jewish.

They
were forced to move home by the Krakow Municipal Authorities. Soon after
moving, Roman's sister pointed outside the window and Roman looked out
to see men building a wall, he and his family were being imprisoned in
a Jewish ghetto. During this time both his parents were taken to concentration
camps, his mother was never to return. Roman always believed he would
see her again as he had no knowledge of the Third Reich's 'Final Solution'
and he never had the opportunity to say goodbye to her.

His father had paid a family to look after Roman and he was moved from
one place to another doing anything he could to survive. There were times
of play amongst the ruined buildings of Poland with other children, yet
he would always be a witness to brutality and depravity as the war continued
witnessing scenes of inhumanity.

At the end of the World War II he was reunited with his father and began
to pursue his dreams of having a career in the film industry, he started
by working on a Children's radio programme called "The Merry Gang".
He soon acquired a lead role in "The Son of the Regiment" the
story of a Russian peasant boy. He attended Art School and finally with
the help of Andrzej Wajda the great Polish director he applied to and
was accepted at the Lodz Film School, the world of film and fantasy and
the door to his dreams. At the film school his talent was readily apparent
in his first student film "Two Men and a Wardrobe". He longed
to escape Poland and travel abroad to America and Paris.

The
first film he made that received significant attention was "Knife
in the Water" made in 1962, this was nominated for an Academy Award
for best foreign language film. He then directed three films in England
including "Cul de Sac" and "Repulsion" starring Catherine
Deneuve as a young woman suffering from a mental illness.

He married the gentle, and talented actress Sharon Tate who starred
in "The Dance of the Vampires", who was brutally murdered in
1969. His next film "Macbeth" is notorious for it's violent
and bloody adaptation of the play by the English playwright, William
Shakespeare.

In 1977 he was involved in an American sex scandal, he fled to France
where he has lived a rather reclusive life with his wife the gifted and
skilled actress Emmanuelle Seigner and their two children. Polanski is
admired by many other filmmakers all over the world for his genius as
a director.

His most recent productions have been "The Ninth Gate" starring
Johnny Depp, and "The Pianist", based on the book by Wladyslaw
Szpilman's - a memoir of the author's experiences growing up in the Warsaw
ghetto and surviving concentration camps during the second world war,
this film will be released soon.